


Chemistry

by werekat



Category: Gundam Wing, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: crossovers100, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, M/M, cross-over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1247740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werekat/pseuds/werekat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU for both Gundam Wing and Harry Potter universes.  Severus and Duo meet at an as yet undisclosed university in the US shortly after everyone's favorite potion master comes over from England to begin a post as the new Chemistry professor, fresh from his PhD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chemistry

Dear _God_ would this torture never end?! Severus Snape looked around the room again, for what seemed the hundredth time in the last …forty-five minutes, according to the clock posted on the back wall. It was all he could do to not bang his head against his desk in frustration, stopping only by sheer force of will to not damage the delicate equipment laid out on the lab table or his face from impacting with the volatile chemicals currently housed in beakers and flasks, laid neatly on the surface. He would not give the dunderheads he’d been given as pupils the satisfaction of seeing his composure or stoic façade come undone. Failure was not an option. That did not, however, detract from his desire to smack that moronic Potter brat upside the head when he looked over and _again_ found the idiot not mixing the chemicals in the necessary,  _ventilated_ fume hood. Not that any of the others were all that much better. At least the curly-haired twit at Potter’s table seemed to know what she was doing, as did a few of the others. He thought he might be able to overlook the obvious superiority complex a few were displaying if they continued to not make complete arses out of themselves in his class. He knew he was a new professor, fresh out of his PhD, and he knew it was a veritable rite of passage to put the new faculty through the hell that was teaching Freshmen, but there was more than one bloody section! It was like the Bio-Chem department had purposely dumped the village idiots in his class. Sighing internally at the sound of shattering glass, he turned flat eyes to the bane of his Chemist’s existence. While the boy was a near genius in his Biology class, it always amazed him how completely and totally inept Neville Longbottom inevitably was in Chemistry. Hearing the pre-set alarm buzz on his mobile, he called out to the milling students.

“Alright, you’ve ten minutes to clear your counters – and actually _clean_ your equipment this time, eh Weasely? We don’t want another near explosion next time,” he said, voice raising over the sudden noise. “Longbottom, I expect that glass removed post haste. Your homework is on the board, as it has been since you arrived, so do not expect sympathy should you ‘forget’ to do it before our next meeting,” he finished, looking directly at Crabbe and Goyle.

How they even managed to get into this university was almost beyond him. He knew the school offered significant athletic scholarships, but [i]surely[/i] they didn’t allot for the levels of idiocy displayed by these two. Noting the area was clear of both students and the mangled remains of equipment that would no doubt have to be replaced many more times this term, Severus let out a relieved sigh and, stretching to loosen the knots in his back, picked up his satchel and jacket and headed for the door, turning off the lights and locking the lab behind him.

He had a good hour at least before his biology lecture and, really with the state of aggravation his mind was in, he couldn’t much be arsed to make himself overtly available for the idiots to pester in his “office,” if the cubicle they’d given him a month ago at the start of term could really be called that. Coming to a decision, the black-garbed man detoured from his original path, heading instead toward the centre of the campus.

\-----------------------------------------

Duo stood at the counter, bored out of his flipping mind, as he had been for the last …three hours. He was sure his watch was just moving slowly to spite him. It was known to do that on occasion, you know, of course that was usually more to do with his odd body chemistry that made watch batteries go haywire and die painful, premature deaths. He mourned them each and every time, he really did. He’d contemplated getting one of those new solar-powered-type ones, but really, on the budget of a second year master’s student who _already_ worked two jobs to pay for tuition… cheap watch batteries were a small, _small_ price to pay. That was also the only reason he was still subjecting himself to the humiliation that was working retail at the campus bookshop—for tuition, not watch batteries. That would just be weird.

It was about this time a scowling vision in black entered the shop.

Catching a barely audible sound, Duo looked up and in a loud voice called out, “Oi! None of that!” After a pause, he continued, smirk in place, “Alex, I know that’s you back there.”

A startled sound came from the space behind one of the clothing racks at the back of the shop, followed swiftly by a softly whispered, “How did he know?!”

“I don’t know! He just knows.”

“ You said it’d be fine!” the sound of feet stomping out of their hiding place bringing a vindictive smile to the braided man’s face as he turned to the man in black stood before his register.

Seeing the question in dark eyes, the brunet nodded toward the monitor mirror attached to the wall near his station, rolling his eyes in exasperation and receiving a smirk in response.

“You’d think after all the times I’ve caught him at it he’d at _least_ pick a different place or something,” Duo grumbled to himself.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he reinstated his customary smile – the _Idiot Grin_ , as Heero had termed it – on the new arrival, trying valiantly to remember why the other man looked so familiar.

“So, can I help you find anything in particular today?” he asked, fully donning his sales-clerk hat.

Observing the man before him, Severus quickly took in tanned skin, long hair, and brilliant royal purple eyes partially hidden behind slim glasses, before giving himself a mental shake. Tanned. Muscled. Athletic. University. Sports team. Player for the university’s American football team. Conclusion: seemingly witty, if likely as incompetent as the rest of the players. Great. Another idiot he had to deal with.  _Why_ Dumbledore had been so adamant that he go to that uni, he’d never know. Not that he’d asked. It was widely thought that the ageing professor was a touch clairvoyant, so people often just did as suggested. Now Severus was starting to think he was just touched in the head.

Broken out of his impromptu reverie by the sound of a throat clearing, the black-clad man nearly jumped as he realized he had both become lost in his thoughts around a stranger and apparently had said stranger’s undivided attention.

“Hey Maxwell! You done yet? The team’s all waiting on you,” came a slightly gruff voice from behind him.

Looking past Severus to the newcomer, the now-named Maxwell, gave a huff of annoyance before responding, “Heero, I told you already: I’m working for another hour. My schedule got switched around.”

“Fine, but you owe me for babysitting for you.”

“Whatever man. Just don’t make me take Relena shopping again. I know she’s like a sister to you, but there are things even I can’t stomach. “

“Says the man who eats ramen every day,” Heero tossed over his shoulder as he left the building, presumably heading back to wherever the team was.

“I do not!”

“Ramen and pizza, Maxwell!”

Turning back to Maxwell, Severus tried valiantly to hide the curiosity building in his dark eyes behind his usual reserved facade. From the braided man’s sheepish look, he was apparently unsuccessful though.

“It’s cheap and easy to find?” he said, in defense.  _Why do I need to defend myself to this guy?_ he thought exasperatedly. First Alex, now Heero and the team. The day was just getting better, and to top it off, he had an attractive, intelligent-looking man standing in front of him and he now felt like an idiot.

“You realize, of course, that the chemical composition of that experimental byproduct you call _food_ contains enough carcinogenic reagents to bring down a small elephant if in enough quantity, I am sure,” he said distainfully.

Seeing the other man’s eyes widen slightly, Severus mourned the death of what might have been a marginally less irritating conversation than the others he had been forced to have the rest of the day. Suddenly self-conscious under the assessing, bespectacled stare, the professor tried to remember why he had thought it a good idea to come to the shop in the first place before grabbing a random book and pulling out his wallet. Finally looking at the young man behind the counter again, he was met with a look not of derision or incomprehension as he had expected, but recognition and amusement.

“I’ll go out on a limb and guess that you’re the new Chemistry professor, right?” Seeing the masked gaze directed at him, Duo continued, “It was the chemical analysis, coupled with the British accent and acerbic wit that tipped me off,” cheeky grin now firmly in place.

“While I applaud your minimal attempts at deduction,” Severus said, “if you wouldn’t mind moving things along, I must be getting back to class. My next batch of …students should be arriving soon,” he finished, glancing at the wall clock behind Duo.

“You sure about that, professor?” the brunet asked, eyebrow raised.

“And what, precisely, is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing much, really. You just don’t strike me as the type to give the gossips ammunition,” Duo said, nodding to the book. “Especially when I’ve already heard the new Chem prof likened to an overgrown bat.”

At that, Severus’ eyes widened minutely. It was only due to long familiarity with Heero’s expressions that Duo was able to read the black-clad man at all. Evidently not seeing any ill will in Duo’s eyes, the other man finally glanced down to the counter, before doing a double-take and groaning almost inaudibly.

“Not really the kind of thing I’d expect someone like you to read, but if sparkly vampires are your thing, have at it.”

“This is decidedly [i]not[/i] what I’d intended to read. And what do you mean, ‘people like me’”? Severus asked, stony expression hardening.

“I don’t mean anything by it, man. I was just under the impression someone like you’d be more into the more intellectual stuff. Camus, Tolstoy, that sort of thing.”

Still skeptical, Severus’ face relaxed marginally, ever wary of unknown elements. And this young man… boy, really, from what he could see, was most definitely an unknown. He just hoped he’d not have him as a student any time soon. Actually looking at the shelves this time, Severus picked up Camus’ [i]The Stranger[/i], deciding to finally read the thing.

“Ah, good choice. I’ve not read it in a long while, but it’s a good one,” Duo said, catching sight of the text and ringing it up.

Saved from having to come up with a suitable response to the fact that the apparent jock not only knew writers from his work in the shop, but had read their work, Severus was glad for the interruption when the aforementioned Alex returned.

“Boss says I’m to take over. They need you out there.”

Apparently the manager had a soft spot for the football team too. Fabulous.

Making his way back to the Chemistry department, Severus Snape, bane of Freshman science classes, remembered how it had been back in England when he was working under Professor Dumbledore. It wasn’t his fault the school had been in an ancient building or that the only suitable space for a lab had been in the expansive converted dungeon. From what he had just heard, apparently his likeness to a bat had not disappeared as he had hoped it would. _On the other hand,_ began a strangely optimistic voice in the back of his mind, [i]bats can scare idiots who are too inept to realize they’re there. That is a bonus.[/i] With that thought in mind, Severus continued on to his second session of the day, a new near imperceptible bounce in his step, forcefully ignoring the lingering intrigue he had felt in the bookstore clerk’s presence.

\-----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, across campus, Duo was changing as he ran to the carpark. They were already forty minutes behind schedule and while he could function on little to no sleep for days on end and the team could just as well sleep in transit, he’d rather not be driving on mountain roads at 3AM. Reaching the van not five minutes after clocking out – a new personal best – he found Heero standing guard as the team sat around a nearby planter, doing homework – Chemistry equations from the looks of it, Duo thought with a chuckle.

“Alright guys, time to go. Andy, don’t even try doing that in the car. You know what happens when you read in a moving vehicle,” Duo said, knowing the boy would try to get as much done as soon as possible. It was admirable, really, but after the last three away games Duo had had enough of having to detail the damn Uni van after trips.  
“Thanks for watching them, Heero.”

“I still don’t know why you need me to. They’re all adults. They can take care of themselves,” Heero returned, looking off to the side.

“Because they’re not like we were, Hee-chan,” Duo said, reverting to the nickname he’d called his best friend since childhood. “And because unlike most people, I can see past that gruff exterior to the guy who genuinely likes helping people learn. You want to teach, they need to learn. It’s a win-win, even in small doses,” he finished with a wink as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Alright. Everyone in?”

“Yes, Coach!”

“Hmm...” Duo said under his breath. “It feels like we’re missing someone.”

“WAIT! Don’t leave yet!”

“Whyyyy?” Duo asked, glancing in the rearview and drawing out the word.

“Muler’s in the bathroom.”

Figures, Duo thought. The one guy who invariably got lost whenever they went anywhere had wandered off for a toilet break. He was just glad that when he looked up again, the kid was coming back to the van. Evidently he wasn’t completely incompetent with off-field directions. Waiting till Muler had climbed into the van and closed the door, Duo asked again,

“We good now?”

“Yes, Coach!”

“No last-minute issues?”

“No, Coach!”

“Good. We’re off then,” he said, putting the van in reverse and beginning the trek, all the while trying to ignore the memory of a black-clad man swooping irritably into the shop not an hour before.


End file.
